Method chaining has been all the rage lately and every database wrapper or aything else that’s uses queries seems to be doing it. But, how does it work? To figure that out, we’ll write a library that can chain method calls to build up a MongoDB query in this article. Let’s get started!Oh, and don’t worry if you haven’t used MongoDB before, I’m just using it as an example to query on. If you’re using this guide to build a querying library for something else, the MongoDB part should be easy to swap out.Let’s say we’re working with a...

If you’re one of those hipster programmers who loves Clojure, Ruby, Scala, Erlang, or whatever, you probably deeply loathe Java and all of its giant configuration files and bloated APIs of AbstractFactoryFactoryInterfaces. I used to hate all that stuff too. But you know what? After working for all these months on these huge pieces of Twitter infrastructure I’ve started to love the AbstractFactoryFactories.Let me explain why. Consider this little Scala program. It uses “futures”, which are a way to schedule computation to be done in parallel from the main flow of a pro...

This idea is a complete rip off an article that appeared in Wired a little while ago and it got me thinking what would my list for Computer Science look like?  Plus I thought it might be a fun post and unlike the Wired list this one goes to eleven.  So here they are in no particular order:Binomial CoefficientThe Binomial Coefficient equation generates Pascal’s Triangle and gives you the coefficients for the Binomial Theorem these ideas are often attributed to Pascal but in fact they have been known in part for over a millennia.As I mentioned that this list is no particular ord...

In my earlier 20s when I knew everything, I was a much bigger evangelist for my technology choices. I’m accused of fanboyism a lot more these days, but only because Hacker News keeps sending huge waves of people here who tell me I’m an idiot. But I used to be much more annoying with pushing my choices onto others.I’ve naturally reduced such evangelism as I approach 30 and realize I don’t know anything, but I’m now making a much more conscious effort to stop it.I spent Thanksgiving weekend in my hometown and visited my friend’s parents. They used to gen...

It's not easy to live up to your fullest potential. There are so many obstacles that can get in the way: bosses that don't appreciate what you have to offer, tedious projects that take up too much of your time, economies where job opportunities are scarce, the difficulty of juggling career, family, and personal goals. But smart, talented people rarely realize that one of the toughest hurdles they'll have to overcome lies within.People with above-average aptitudes — the ones we recognize as being especially clever, creative, insightful, or otherwise accomplished — often judge t...

I originally assumed that open source was simply a means of producing technology.But technology is just a lovely byproduct, the real goal is social.Not all open source projects work this way, but perhaps they should.I stumbled upon this realization while maintaining fog as it grew and grew and grew.Leaving issues open seemed unbearable, but over time the volume far exceeded my ability to keep up.Over time I saw the promise of a better way, but my expectations of open source would need to adapt.I learned that if running a project means fixing bugs, you may never find time for anything else.Ever...

A few years ago I visited a friend who is a graduate student in linguistics. After some time he asked me if I was aware of the work by Chomsky on formal languages. I told him that yes, Chomsky work was a basis for much of the developments in theoretical computer science. More than that, I was glad to learn that there was something technical that I could share and discuss with other people in linguistics.At the time I found this was just a great coincidence. It was only recently, though, that I started to think seriously about the implications of the idea that much of our understanding of compu...

How many times have you tried to get something done that needed some touch of originality and creativity and yet got that annoying mind block which is manifested by blank stares, scratching and biting on anything in reach? “all the damn time” I hear?As preconditions to be creative, one should know something well while having the utmost focus on it. Someone who knows little about aerodynamics can’t come up with the idea for next concord. And focus has two aspects: knowing a specified area well (focus area) and being able to bring most of those neurons to work on it. How do yo...